Tuesday, April 01, 2014

It would appear the historic Vincent-HRD marque is hurtling towards India!

In shocking news today, it appears Eicher Motors Limited, owners of the Royal Enfield brand, have claimed Vincent-HRD as their own, and plan to manufacture new Vincents in one year. A bit of back story: Matt Holder of Birmingham purchased the names and rights of the Royal Enfield, Velocette, Scott, and Vincent-HRD marques at their bankruptcy sales, over the decades-long decay of the British motorcycle industry from the 1950s-70s. The Holder family, with their HQ in a former Triumph warehouse in Meriden (the last Triumph factory building still standing), have kept these machines on the road by their continued manufacture and distribution of spares. When Enfield India, which had been selling 'Enfields' since it licensed the Bullet design in the 1950s, decided it would prefer it's 'Royal' back in 1994, they snookered the Holder family out of the right to the Royal Enfield name, using a team of lawyers to argue, successfully, that the Holders weren't actually trading under the Royal Enfield name. Hence, Royal Enfields are now made in India: read the court decision here.

Now, the ever-growing Madras factory, owned by Eicher Motors Ltd, has reached across the waters to Birmingham once again, claiming the name 'Vincent-HRD' as its own, and announcing its intentions to produce a new V-Twin to rival all others.

Siddhartha Lal, MD of Eicher Motors Ltd, and now the Vincent marque

Siddhartha Lal, the Managing Director of Eicher Motors Ltd, explained, "the only reason to revive the Vincent marque, with all its amazing history and legendary riders like Rollie Free, is to make the fastest motorcycle in the world, once again. We have the money, the design talent, and the facilities to do just that. Our in-house industrial designers got their degrees at MIT and Cal Tech, and have come up with the latest generation of engines and chassis, which we will reveal in one year; April 1st, 2015, and the all-new the Vincent Black Rapier."

In a Vintagent.com exclusive, I can reveal that the new Vincent Black Rapier will be based on the remarkable Bernard Li design of 1994, using a supercharged engine co-designed by Lamborghini.

I am not a lawyer, but reading the decision causes me to recall my general understanding that, to retain rights to a name, you have to use it. No Royal Enfield motorcycle was or had been manufactured under that name in England for quite some time when the Indian company could say, in effect, that it is and had been making what recognizably are Royal Enfield motorcycles the whole time. Had the decision gone the other way, presumably, someone could have bought up the name and begun selling any sort of thing under the name. It was smart of Eicher to head off that possibility but it doesn't make them evil. Just my three cents. Disclosure: I own a RE made in India, I blog about them, and I am a fan.

David, the key to a good hoax is enough truth in the mix, and as you note, the story of 'Royal' and the Holder family is 100% true - the link to the court's conclusion is real.

Holders owned the name and have been selling Royal Enfield spares for decades, but under the 'Velocette Motorcycle Co' banner. This was the opening Enfield India needed, and David Holder lost the court battle over 'Royal'.

The 'Vincent' name, also owned by the Holders, is similarly vulnerable, although I'm sure (or hope!) they've taken steps to create new companies to protect the names paterfamilias Matt Holder purchased decades ago.

Having said all that, it would have been far less shitty of Eicher Motors to have bought/licensed the 'Royal', instead of the money they spent on lawyers!

Paul, no need to post this (unless you want to) but I was going to add, yes, it would have been more palatable for Royal Enfield to have purchased the name but you have the answer right there in the suit: offering to pay implies you don't already have the right to the name. It weakens your position. If it had bought, RE might someday have been in the position of defending what it had bought, the value of which it actively questioned. Again, I'm no lawyer. Just my reading of it.

Holder has licensed a clothing company in Glasgow to produce t shirts and so on for Velocette. Good for them as it brings a range of modern gear to a wide audience. Good for Eicher for taking up the baton and moving ahead aggressively to market real motorcycle products rather than merchandise. I am sure both visions can co-exist. As a former Velo clubman owner and a Bullet efi owner I love em all, so more mileage to their individual plans.

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